Misjudgment by Supreme Court in Asghar Khan case?
The Supreme Court has passed a short order in the Asghar Khan case declaring that the formation of the IJI by the military establishment to ensure a handpicked government comes to power was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has held that the military have no role in politics and they have in the past breached the Constitution in manipulating elections.
Well done Supreme Court I am sure it is clear message to military establishment that any future intervention will be exposed and opposed. The court rightly deserve to be praised for this historical judgment, however, the superior court will truly make history if it holds accountable the ones responsible for extra-judicial killing in Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan also. So far it has miserably failed in this regard despite the presence of conclusive evidence of the crimes committed against the people. I do not know why this thought repeatedly comes into my mind that this decision on this time is meant to divert attention of the masses from the crimes committed by PPP in its about five yeas regime when election is coming ahead. PPP constantly remained in defiance and did not cooperate with the court at any stage during the hearing of this case nor it filed relevant documents with court despite these were summoned by the apex court. Will court take any action against the Government?
The Supreme Court has another chance to redeem its reputation and inspire confidence in the people. Just conduct a trial of all those responsible for the 1971 debacle and General Zia`s plane crash incident in 1988. The Memogate Case is also coming before the SC soon. Ambassdor Haqani has been declared guilty by a commission probing the alleged ‘Memogate’ scandal that hit the country last year and the Commission has already found there is prima facie case of high treason against Ambassador Haqani. But point of determination is could Hussain Haqani take such a drastic and under handed task by himself? All that the SC has to do is to judge whether he acted on the instructions of President Zardari? Haqani who had been released by the Supreme Court has loudly said that the commission is not a court and those claiming it has determined guilt or innocence are wrong. “Those who endorsed military dictators and allowed them to amend constitution cannot judge my – or anyone else’s-patriotism,” Haqani wrote on the Twitter. We live in dangerous and unusual times. If the judiciary can act boldly and do the real justice, the military would not need to take action. If it does not, there would have to be another coup and yet another occasion to invoke the doctrine of necessity.
Supreme Court decision seems more political than a legal one and confirms one-sided and lopsided approach. I respect the CJ very much but this verdict is clearly biased against our Armed Forces. He should have decided on merit, not on perceptions. If at all, some parties got a donation from Pakistani community is not as bad as some parties getting money from the CIA and RAW.
While deciding the case SC should have kept in view what had been done by the PPP in the past with this poor country and what was going to be done next. Since the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, there had been a sympathy wave for the PPP. The then Pakistan’s security establishment, which was in the midst of Afghan War, considered coming PPP government as an obstacle in the implementation of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy and a threat to the country’s nuclear program. In order to prevent the PPP from securing absolute majority and/or by default owing to a fragmented opposition, in the coming general elections, Director General ISI Lt. General Hameed Gul using his personal relations with right wing parties created a nine-party alliance called IJI. It was formed in September 1988, to oppose the PPP being not a trustworthy party involved in acts detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. It is now an open secret that PPP was a terrorist organization which came to power with CIA help after General Zia’s assassination just as they have come to power now under the NRO.
The court should have also kept in view that keeping an eye on the foreign secret agencies and their links inside Pakistan is constitutional responsibility of our spy agencies like MI, ISI and IB. If anybody is found in contact with any foreign agent they put him under surveillance and report to their head regarding ‘suspicious’ activities. In this case suspect was as high as the Prime Minster herself; Benazir Bhutto had contacts with Indian intelligence operatives and it was dilemma faced by General Asad Durrani. He reported the matter to the Army Chief who informed the President – Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Ms Benazir Bhutto had lost popularity and the charge of her being a ‘security risk’ had became public widely so she was not likely to win the 1990 elections in any case. For further making it sure to keep this “Security Risk” away from power all the three bigs decided to extend support to IJI, which though not supported by the constitution, but was in the best interest of Pakistan.
Having been appointed as Ambassador in Germany by the PPP government in 1994, Mr. Rehman Malik visited Germany and forced Ambassador Durrani by using blackmailing tactics to submit the details of the funds allegedly distributed amongst the politicians in 1990. General Durrani obliged and gave him a hand written manuscript, confessional statement “for the PM eyes only”. According to this manuscript General Durrani had stated that: “The operation not only had the blessings of the President and the whole-hearted support of the Prime Minister, but was also in the knowledge of the military high command. What is the object of this exercise? If it is to target the opposition, it might be their legitimate right to take donations. If the idea is to put Gen Beg on the mat, he was merely providing ‘logistic support, (to) donations made by a community under instructions from the government.” If Gen Durrani had not given that fabricated Affidavit, there would have been no case at all.
The present form of Zardari brand democracy, which Supreme Court is protecting for the last more than four years, is depriving the citizens of good education, healthcare, financial liberty and other civic amenities. The corrupt leaders, who have been looting the country’s resources, have pushed the people almost in dark ages. Is that all constitutional? The people do not need Zardari who in terms of meaning and unfortunately in terms of personality also, is a symbol of malicious power and setup in Pakistan. The people don’t want a Pakistan where their daughters are raped, their sons are killed in streets, their businesses are snatched, and their families are begging for food on roads and the so called leaders are plundering all the resources and enjoying all the richness. If democracy is really what everyone wants then the SC needs to ensure the appropriate systems in place for democracy to work. Otherwise, I don’t see anything changing in the way this country is running. Democracy means strengthening of institutions but in Pakistan it is quite the opposite. Pakistani politicians think that democracy means only rigged elections & a license for five years of loot & plunder. The most serious problem being faced by our brand of democracy is criminalization of politics. Even basic parameters like minimum qualification are not defined for being a Member of Parliament and what had been defined during previous regime has been abolished.
Most of our MNAs / MPAs don’t enjoy even 20% of mass support. Though constitutional, but is not true representation of their constituencies? Can Supreme Court interfere to ensure at least more than 50% mass support to be elected? Yes the MNAs / MPAs and Senators today are coming into the Parliament after spending tens of millions of rupees to get elected. What is the reason for such huge expenditures on elections? Everybody knows very well. Sadly our country has been hijacked by those unpatriotic, visionless leaders who have no respect for rule of law; they are actually not the real Law makers but law breakers. What prevailing in the country for the last more than four years is ruthless struggle for power, corruption, and the shameful exploitation of our simple, honest, patriotic and industrious masses, the lack of decorum, and the prostitution of Islam for political ends by the sitting regime. Can SC recover the losses from the people responsible for losses sustained by the public institutions? Conduct a fair survey today, as per public opinion Army Rule was a hundred times better than the gutter scum & mafia ruling right now, being constantly protected by the court in the name of following sacrosanct constitution and protecting “democracy”. The politicians and their paid media are always calling for democracy to prevail, but what has democracy done for the country which is also being protected by the SC?